Episode 8. ‘Tell me what you think as Wilbur’

In this episode pupils in Ms Cane’s Year 5 class are invited to take on the persona of the character of Wilbur from the book Charlotte’s Web in order to explore Wilbur’s feelings about going to the county fair. We invite you to conduct your own analysis of this episode. For us, the episode raises interesting issues around what constitutes an open question, what makes children engage (or not) with a text, and how we can strike the right balance between creating an atmosphere of fun and excitement in a lesson while also attending to learning objectives and criteria for assessment. What issues does it raise for you?